I played in the biggest Scrabble tournament in the country - and it was nothing like the game you grew up playing
Patty Hocker/NASPA
But for a few thousand people, the iconic board game is a competitive, adrenaline-filled, highly cerebral discipline, worthy of hundreds of hours of study and a lifetime of obsession.
I'm one of those few, and last month, I flew to New Orleans to compete in the North American Scrabble Championship with 400 fellow word nerds.
The tournament was a marathon - 31 games in five days - that pushed me to the brink of mental exhaustion. But it also offered an illuminating look into a quirky subculture that toils in relative obscurity, far from the confines of grandma's living room.
Here's what it's like to play in the biggest Scrabble tournament in the country:
- Fresh photographs of Milky Way’s black hole Sgr A* reveal strong, twisted magnetic field similar to M87*
- 8 Lesser-known places to explore in Himachal Pradesh
- Markets end FY24 on buoyant note amid positive global cues
- SRM Contractors IPO allotment – How to check allotment, GMP, listing date and more
- Rupee falls 6 paise to settle at 83.39 against US dollar